MySQL query to select everything to left of last space in a column with name records

For this, you can use LEFT(). Let us first create a table −

mysql> create table DemoTable1939
   (
   FullName varchar(20)
   );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

Insert some records in the table using insert command −

mysql> insert into DemoTable1939 values('Adam Smith');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable1939 values('Robert Downey, Jr.');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable1939 values('Sylvester Stallone');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable1939 values('Chris Hemsworth');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

Display all records from the table using select statement −

mysql> select * from DemoTable1939;

This will produce the following output −

+--------------------+
| FullName           |
+--------------------+
| Adam Smith         |
| Robert Downey, Jr. |
| Sylvester Stallone |
| Chris Hemsworth    |
+--------------------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Here is the query to select everything to left of last space

mysql> select
   LEFT(FullName, LENGTH(FullName) - LOCATE(' ', REVERSE(FullName))+1)
   from DemoTable1939;

This will produce the following output −

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| LEFT(FullName, LENGTH(FullName) - LOCATE(' ', REVERSE(FullName))+1) |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Adam                                                                |
| Robert Downey,                                                      |
| Sylvester                                                           |
| Chris                                                               |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)